Read Online An Enchanted Spring: Mists of Fate - Book Two by Nancy Scanlon - Free Book Online

anything, she took it as confirmation that he realized the severity of the situation. As they pulled up to her apartment, he grabbed her cardboard box off the seat. “I’ll carry it up. You still look as though you may fall over.”
    Fall apart was on the tip of her tongue, but she agreed with a nod. The elevator was broken, and she didn’t feel very steady on her feet.
    “Thank you for the ride,” she said as they trudged up the stairs.
    “You’re entirely welcome.” He shifted the box in his arms.
    She opened her apartment door and let out a shriek. At once, Aidan pinned her protectively against the wall, the contents of the box scattering across the hallway. He drew a dagger from somewhere, and she felt a flash of fear course through her body…but his focus was on the inside of the apartment, not her throat.
    “Stay here,” he commanded. “Cian, good timing, as ever.”
    “You left your purse,” the driver explained. He held her purse in one hand and a dagger in the other.
    What the hell?
    She glanced into her apartment again, her heart in her throat. The entire thing had been turned upside down; every drawer in her tiny kitchen had been pulled and emptied on the floor. Remnants of her breakfast bowl lay amongst the trash, which had also been emptied, and a knife protruded from the middle of her kitchen table. The cushions to her couch were gone and her television was smashed into thousands of pieces all over the floor.
    Cian took Aidan’s place in front of her as Aidan went straight to her bedroom; the door was wide open. She glimpsed her clothes all over the floor, and gasped when her eyes landed on her bed. Someone had taken a knife to it; the sheets were shredded and there was a gash in the mattress where the springs were showing.
    A moment later, Aidan came out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him and sheathing the dagger in his boot. “’Tis safe. No one is here.” Cian stepped away from her, and she didn’t even bother to move.
    “Your day is not enviable,” Aidan finally said, looking around. He frowned, then yanked the knife from the center of the kitchen table and pulled the note from the blade.
    “I’m back. You have two days to get me more money,” he read.
    Emma’s mind spun. Everything—her money, her job, all her possessions—was lost.
    Where, exactly, was she supposed to come up with more money? And when did Ben get out of jail?
    She shook her head once, then covered her face. She didn’t bother to stem the tears as they fell through her fingers.

Chapter 4
    Aidan thanked the policeman as he left the hotel suite, and glanced with concern at Emma. She sat on the sofa, toying with her necklace, and stared blankly at the gas fireplace in the wall.
    “His parole officer promised me he’d call if Ben was up for early release,” Emma said to no one in particular. “He promised. Swore it, even.”
    Aidan silently sat down in the armchair directly across from her and steepled his hands against his chin.
    “Because Ben had made direct threats against my life,” she added, her eyes rooted to the flames as they danced. “I guess I didn’t think he’d try to ruin me first. If he had the power to take all my money, why didn’t he just do that and disappear? Why does he have to come after me like this?”
    “Some men—and I hesitate to use that label in association with your ex—enjoy the feeling of power.”
    Her eyes swung to Aidan’s. “He wasn’t like this when we were together.”
    Aidan didn’t respond.
    She continued, her voice hollow. “I’ve lost everything. First he took my money, then he ended my career.” She met Aidan’s eyes, her own haunted. “And now he’s taken my safety.”
    Aidan’s chest constricted. “He has not, Emmaline. Not if you don’t allow it.”
    She laughed incredulously. “Allow it? All I want is to be free of him. But there’s no escape. I think he proved that rather effectively, don’t you?” She jerked her head toward the